The
Institute
of Directors
(IoD) has appealed to the
Prime Minister to stay firm over the Government’s support of an extended
qualifying period for the European Union’s Temporary Agency Workers Directive
after Tony Blair appeared to endorse the directive at the TUC conference.
The
directive would give temporary workers the same rights as their permanently
employed colleagues in terms of pay, working hours and holidays.
In
a letter to the Prime Minister, IoD
chairman, Chris Beale said: "Temporary workers play a key role in our
flexible labour market. Anything that would make it more difficult or
burdensome to employ temporary staff would undermine this crucial aspect of the
UK’s
competitiveness."
The
EU debate has concentrated on proposals for a ‘qualifying period’ – the time
that a temporary employee would have to serve before becoming entitled to the
new rights.
The
Government supports the principle of the directive, but has argued for an
extended qualifying period of six or 12 months, which the IoD said would shield business from the worst of the
impact.
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